Page 26 of The Darkest Night

“What the heck—?” Mae started.

A fox landed on her face with a wet plop.

Chapter 13

“That thing’s feral,”Miles said in a disgusted tone.

Violet sighed. “He’s not feral. He’s just disorientated.”

Miles indicated the livid red lines on his forearms with a scowl.

“Oh yeah? Tell that to my scars!”

Millie made a worried sound where she and Trixie loitered in the doorway of the bathroom, the two familiars too anxious to come inside.

The fox that had dropped on Mae’s head hissed and spat at them from where he’d taken refuge at the far end of the shower cubicle, fur wet and dripping.

They were back in the hospital room. Violet and Miles had come in through the window after Mae had returned to the ICU. Violet had carried the fox in her leather jacket, which now lay in tatters on the floor.

He’d practically ripped the thing apart with his claws and teeth.

The fact that Violet and Miles had floated down from the rooftop using magic and had not been seen by the dozens of cops still swarming the grounds was something Mae had decided she would question later.

Violet had proposed they give the creature a wash to get rid of the sulfurous scent tainting his fur. When Mae had asked why he smelled like that, Violet had said one word.

Hell.

It had been enough to bring Mae to her senses. Though most of what had happened three days ago and tonight still felt like a dream, this moment didn’t. She suspected the reason she’d been feeling restless all day had something to do with the creature currently studying them with menacing suspicion.

She’d been waiting for him.

It was a truth that resonated deep inside her, just like the fact that the pendant she’d been born to wield was a heck more powerful than she’d initially thought.

Mae blinked at that stray thought.

Wait. Why did I just think that?

The medallion trembled against her chest.

The fox stopped growling. His orange eyes locked on the pentagram pendant. He made a soft keening noise and strained forward slightly, as if he wanted to get closer.

“You need to talk to him,” Violet advised. “He’s probably still shocked by what he just went through.”

“He’s shocked? What about me? I just got a faceful of fox genitals.” Mae hesitated. “What do I say to him?”

“Something. Anything.”

Mae took a shaky breath. She lifted the towel in her arms and shuffled closer to the fox.

“Come here,” she said gently. “I’m not gonna hurt you.”

The fox’s eyes flared with wariness. He bared his teeth, the sound that left his throat too loud for his tiny body. The air around him turned crimson as his hackles rose.

Miles and Violet traded a worried glance.

The force radiating from the fox made Mae’s core and the pendant tremble with resonance. Her lips flattened to a thin line. “Look, I’m not enthused about this either, pal. So, how about you get your skinny runt ass over here and I dry you so you stop looking like a drowned rat?!”

“Oh wow,” Violet muttered.

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